Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

149
5 -
For all accidents the influence to the environment is so small
THAT evacuation OF PEOPLE IS NOT NECESSARY. THIS BEHAVIOUR OF
THE HTR REACTOR IS NOT DEPENDENT ON HUMAN ERROR.
In addition to the development work in THE US AND IN GERMANY
THERE IS GOING ON DEVELOPMENT WORK IN THE SOWJET-UNION IN THE
KURCHATOV-lNSTITUTE AND OTHER INSTITUTES. FROM MY VISITS TO THE
KURCHATOV-lNSTITUTE I KNOW THAT THE STAFF CONSISTS OF MORE THAN
1000 SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WORKING ON THE PEBBLE BED CONCEPT,
SIMILAR TO THE GERMAN DESIGN. THEREFORE IT IS FEASIBLE THAT AN
AGREEMENT CAN BE ESTABLISHED WITH THE EAST BLOC COUNTRIES FOR
THE APPLICATION OF PASSIVE, SAFE REACTOR SYSTEMS.
The BIGGER MARKET OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE NEXT DECADES ARE THE
SMALL REACTORS. THIS IS DEMONSTRATED BY STUDIES OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS. THE MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE LIVING IN REGIONS
WITH SMALL NETWORKS OF TRANSPORTATION LINES, SO THAT ONLY SMALL
UNITS CAN BE USED. ALSO, THE HEAT APPLICATION FOR COGENERATION
AND NUCLEAR STEAM FOR OIL RECOVERY NEED ONLY SMALL UNITS. THERE-
FORE, I GUESS IN THE NEXT DECADES A LARGE NUMBER OF PASSIVE,
SAFE REACTORS ARE NECESSARY.
CONCLUSIONS:
The HTR is characterised by the following items:
1) It has a PASSIVE, safety system.
2) Human errors are not dangerous
3) Evacuation of people in the worst case is not necessary.
This means a new era of reactor safety philosophy.